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A man sleeps under a tree, and a woman, apparently* his wife, introduces a lover. A fight ensues, and the victor carries away the naked female in his arms. Older than these caves are smaller and simpler ones, among which the Tiger Cave in Udayagiri is the best known. Turning now to Western India, the Nassik group contains three principal Vihdras known under the names of Nahapana, Gautamiputra, and Yaduyasri. The first two are on the same plan, being halls 40 feet square with 16 small cells for monks on three sides, and a six-pillared veranda on the fourth side. An inscription in the Nahapana Vih£ra shews that it was excavated by the son-in-law of that chief, who, we have seen elsewhere, heads the list of Shah kings ; and the date of this Vih&ra is therefore about 100 A. D. The Gautamiputra Vihdra is supposed to be two or three centuries later. The Yaduyasri Vih&ra has a Digitized by Google CHAP. VIII.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, &C. 1 35 hall 60 feet by 40 to 45 feet, and 21 cells for monks. It has also a sanctuary with two richly carved pillars and a collosal figure of Buddha with many attendants. The date of this Vihira appears from an inscription to be the fifth century. Perhaps the most interesting Vihiras in India are Nos. 16 and 17 of the Ajanta Vihiras. They are beautiful specimens of Buddhist monasteries, and possess a unique value, as they still contain fresco paintings with a degree of distinctness unequalled in any other VihAra in India. Their date has been ascertained; they were excavated early in the fifth century, when the Guptas were the emperors of India. Vihira No. 16 measures 65 feet each way, and has twenty pil- lars. It has sixteen cells for monks on two sides, a great hall in the centre, a veranda in the front, and a sanc- tuary in the back. All the walls are covered with fres- scenes from the life of Buddha or from the legends Ajanta Vihara No. 16. Digitized by Google BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. of saints, and the roofs and pillars have arabesques and ornaments, and all this combines to produce a peculiar richness of effect Judging from the representations* of the frescoes which have been published, the painting was by no means contemptible. The figures are natural and elegant, the human faces are pleasant and expres- sive and convey the feelings which they are meant to convey, and the female figures are supple, light, and elegant, and have an air of softness and mild grace which mark them peculiarly Indian in style. The decorations are chaste and correct in style and singular- ly effective. It is to be hoped that a fairly complete representation of these curious paintings will yet be published for the elucidation of the art of painting in ancient India ; and such a work will be as valuable to the historian of Indian Art as the paintings recovered from Pompii and preserved in the museum of Naples are valuable to the historian of ancient European Art. Dr. Fergusson, however, apprehends that the means adopted to heighten the color of the Ajanta paintings in order to copy them, and the " destructive tendencies of British tourists " have already spoilt these invalu- able treasures. Ajanta Vih&ra No. 17 is similar in plan to No. 16 and is known as the Zodiac cave, because a figure of the Buddhist Chakra or wheel was mistaken for the signs of the Zodiac. Eight or nine Vih&ras exist at Bogh, a place about Digitized by Google CHAP. VIII.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, &C. 1 37 30 miles west of Mandu. The great Vitara here has a hall 96 feet square and a sh£la or school-room attached to it 94 feet by 44 feet ; while a veranda 220 feet in length runs in front of the hall and the shall 28 pillars beautify the hall, 16 pillars are in the school-room, while 20 pillars all in a row adorn the veranda. At one time the whole of the back wall of the gallery was adorned with a series of fresco paintings, equalling the Ajanta paintings in beauty. The principal subjects are processions on horseback and on elephants. Women exceed men in number, and dancing and love-making are prominently introduced. At Ellora there are numerous Vih&ras attached to the Visvakarm& Chaitya of which we have spoken before. The great Vihdra is 1 10 feet by 70 feet, and this as well as the smaller VihAras belong probably to the same century as the Chaitya. There are three temples here which curiously illus- trate the steps by which Buddhistic excavations gradu- ally merged in the Hindu. The first temple is Do- tal, a two-storeyed Buddhist VMra, Buddhistic in all its details. The second temple is Teen-tal, similar to the Do-tal, and still having Buddhist sculptures, but departing so far from simplicity of style as to justify Brihmans in appropriating it, as they have done ! The third is Das Avatar, still resembling the other two in architectural details, but entirely Hindu in sculptures. Later on, when Hinduism had completely triumphed over Digitized 138 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. Buddhism, the Hindus of Southern India excavated in the spot, in the 8th or 9th century A. D. the famous temple of Kaildsa which has made Ellora one of the great wonders of India. But of this and other Hindu edifices we will speak when we come to treat of the Pauranik Period. We need only state here that the main distinction between Buddhist works and Hindu works is this ; Buddhist Chaityas and Vih&ras are caves inside hills and rocks ; while Hindu workers, even when they worked on existing hills and rocks, imitated struc- tural buildings by clearing away the stone on all sides, and thus allowing the edifices carved to stand out in bold relief against the neighbouring rocks. Such is Kailasa in Ellora. We need not lengthen this chapter by giving an account of G&ndh£ra Vih&ras. There can be no doubt that Greek influence greatly modified the style of architecture there, and some capitals found in Jamalgiri are undoubtedly Corinthian in style. Nor is it possible to include here an account of Ceylonese architecture. There are numerous ruins of ancient topes and other edifices in that island, specially near Anuradhapura which continued to be the capital of Ceylon for ten centuries. Two of the largest known topes are in Ceylon, one at Abhayagiri, 1 100 feet in circumference and 244 feet high ; and the other at Jetavana, a few feet higher. The former was erected in 88 B. C, and the latter in 275 A.D. Digitized by Google CHAP. VIII.] BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE, &C. 139 From the brief account that has been given, our readers will perceive that both in architecture and in sculpture the highest excellence was attained and maintained in India before and immediately after the Christian Era. For the first attempts we must look to the rude caves in Orissa and Behar, with the facades now and then ornamented with rude sculpture of animals. Such, for instance, is the Tiger Cave of Orissa, and we must date this class of caves with the first spread of Buddhism in the fourth century B. C. A great advance was made in the third century B.C., and perhaps the noblest monuments, both in sculpture and in architecture, were constructed between the third century B.C., and the first century A. D. The richly sculptured rails of Bharhut and Sanchi belongto 200 B.C. & 100 AD* and the finest Vih&ra that has been yet discovered, that of Karli, belongs also to the first century after Christ. For the succeeding three or four centuries the art maintained its high position, but scarcely any progress was made, for it is doubtful if a tendency towards elaborate ornamentation is true progress. The Ajanta Vihdras and the Amardvati rails constructed in the 4th and 5th century AD. maintained the high position which art had reached in India three or four centuries earlier. Painting, too, of which we cannot discover the first beginnings, attained or maintained its high excellence in the 5th century AD. After that century, all arts declined with the decline of Buddhism. When we Digitized by Google 140 BUDDHIST PERIOD. [BOOK IV. meet sculpture again in the Hindu temples of the 7th and 8th centuries, the art had lost much of its higher aesthetic qualities, and "frequently resorts to such expedients as giving dignity to the principal personages, by making them double the size of less important characters, and of distinguishing gods from men by giving them more heads and arms than mortal man can use or understand.'' There was no lack however of industry, enterprise or elaborate ornamentation. On the contrary, Orissa and Southern and Western India were covered with temples and sculpture works evincing very considerable vigour and often producing a rich effect by profuse and elaborate ornamentation. But we miss aesthetic beauty, specially in the later Hindu works. The hand of the sculptor was as busy as ever, but the mind of the artist was wanting. Digitized by Google CHAPTER IX. SOCIAL MANNERS. CASTE. The Chinese traveller Houen Tsang makes some general remarks about the people of India and the way they lived which are valuable to the historian. 44 With respect to the ordinary people," he says, " although they are naturally light-minded, yet they are upright and honorable. In money matters they are without craft, and in administering justice they are considerate. They dread the retribution of another state of existence, and make light of the things of the present world. They are not deceitful or treacherous in their conduct, and are faithful to their oaths and promises.